"What are you doing here?"

Gabriel's pulse jumped at the sound of her voice. Alex. His Alex was sitting in front of him at last, looking at him with those dark green eyes that had entranced him the very first time he saw her in that nightclub in Hong Kong.

His chest grew tight with the need to hold her, his fingers itching to touch her, but he forced himself to be calm. "Why did you run from me Alex? If you had let me explain you would know Marianne -"

"You must be married by now," Alex cut him off, her face rigid. Then she grabbed the umbrella beside her, opened it, and held it like a shield between them as she came to her feet. "Belated congratulations. I'm afraid I have things to do, but please have some cake on the house before you go."

Anger had his wolf rising, its power surprising her into standing still. "Yes, you are right, she is married. Marianne is living happily in Paris with her beta husband and their baby."

The shock in Alex's expression, quickly gave way to uncertainty . "What are you talking about?"

Damn it, it hurt that she mistrusted him so much, but then again, what had he ever done to make her feel secure? "Marianne lied to you, Alex. I never intended to get back together with her and that baby was not mine."

"But she said..." her brows drew together in confusion. "She said you were playing with lots of women...I saw Katya coming out of your room in the middle if the night and your cufflinks..."

"Katya stole them from my room the night before the election and passed them onto Marianne. I wasn't in my room that night," Gabriel explained, willing her to believe him. "Alex, I swear none of it is real. You are my mate, there is no space in my mind, body or soul for anyone else. Don't you feel the same?"

"I..." She bit her lower lip and he could see that she was trying to suppress tears. His frustration melted away at the sight of them and all he wanted to do was hold her.

"Alex," Gabriel took a step forward and ran into her umbrella. "Could you move this bloody thing?" Not waiting for her to comply, he pulled it out of her grasp and chucked it away so he could hold her. But after taking a step closer, he froze as his eyes were drawn to the bulge in the front of her summer dress.

"You're pregnant." It felt like his blood had frozen solid. He was late, too late. She had moved on, had found someone else. She was even carrying the bastard's baby. "No!"

Alex took a step back, one hand covering her belly in a protective gesture that was like a punch to his gut.

"No," he softened his voice. Then he pulled her forward into his arms and buried his face into her hair, drawing in the scent of her. "It doesn't matter. I can't let you go, no matter what. I'll raise the baby with you, Alex, I promise to treat it like my own. As for...as for the father, well the most I can do is promise not to kill him." He looked down at her face then, his expression very serious. "But you can never see him again, do you understand?"

Alex took a step back, "That's going to be difficult."

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, his mind balking at her words. What was he meant to do? He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and package her back to Boston. He wanted to shout that she was his mate and that she belonged only with him. He wanted to kiss her until she forgot about the other man...but what if he ended up making her miserable?

"Do you love him?"

"Yes," Alex smiled.

How could she smile at this moment? Didn't she realise what she was doing to him?

Then she stepped forward, suddenly taking his cold hand to lay it on her stomach as she opened her mind.

Her thoughts rushed at him at once and his breath caught in his throat: it was His baby.

His Alex was having his baby.

Unable to keep his hands off of her for a moment longer, Gabriel lifted Alex in his arms and kissed her.

"What are you doing?" She pushed against him, trying to catch her breath, "Put me down, Gabriel."

"No," there was no way he was letting of his woman or his baby, not for a second. "I'm carrying you until we are on the plane back to Boston, so don't bother with the squirming."

"Gabriel, I can walk!" Alex protested, looking somewhere between amused and annoyed.

"You should't be on your feet too long, it's not good for the baby." He said, moving around the bench and over to the entrance of the cafe.

Alex's face started to turn pink as several guests noticed them through the glass door. "Don't be ridiculous, Gabriel, please let me go."

"Sorry love," Gabriel placed a kissed on the tip of her nose and smiled. "I'm never letting you go again."